Do you ever feel taken for granted and undervalued as a homemaker? For many of us homemaker is our second full time job, after we do whatever it is we do all day to pay the bill, we come home and work a whole lot more.
When I was younger my grandmother used to say, “A man works from sun to sun but a woman’s work is never done.” In my marriage that was true, my ex husband did very little around the house, and it’s even more true now that I’m divorced.
It’s hard to place a value on the things you do for your family. You tend to them out of love, you cook and clean and do their laundry because it is part of taking care of the people you love. But what is it worth?
We all know the worth of feeding our families healthy, nutritious meals, our kids are healthier, they grown properly and are able to learn and do all the other things their body needs fuel to do. I get that, I really do, but what’s it worth? To pay a private chef to do all the cooking you do, everything from meal planning to shopping, would be $52,000 a year.
Keeping your house clean has many benefits, germ control being a major one but there is also comfort in being in a well run home. To have someone come in and clean your house twice a week would be $6,000 a year, and that doesn’t include ovens and windows.
What about caring for those children of yours? If you are a stay at home mom, then you are providing full time, live in childcare to the tune of $31,000 a year.
Then there is all the miscellaneous stuff you do, laundry, lawn care, driving everyone to different activities, helping with homework, baking for school, refereeing sibling fights, and on and on. Let’s face it, your family can’t afford you so it’s a very good thing you love them so much.